Gauguin and Last Full Day in Paris

We're getting repetitious but the weather has been fairly consistent for our visit.  Wednesday October 11 was the usual mix of cloud and sun and a high of 18C.  Great walking weather.   Alain now has the cold and it was his turn to rest at the apartment for the day.  Grace and I took the Metro to the Grand Palais to see the Gauguin L'alchimiste (Gauguin: The Alchemist) exhibit which was just opening.

Outside the Grand Palais- line up at 1:00 p.m. was not too long

Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) was one of the major French artists of the 19th century.  The exhibit aimed to explore Gauguin's experimental approach to his disciplines of painting (for which he is most well known), ceramics, woodwork, and engravings (the latter three, have been seen less frequently and often underappreciated). He was a self-taught artist,  born in Paris.  His family moved to Peru when he was a young child.  His father died on the journey to South America.  He later returned to Paris and in 1873 married a Danish woman Mette- Sophie Gad with whom he had five children.  They eventually separated and she moved back to Denmark with the children.  Gauguin later had relationships with three very young women in Tahiti and the Marquesas islands, and had three additional children.  Gauguin had syphilis and also had several heart attacks before he died alone in 1903.

In 1889, he wrote to Émile Bernard, a French painter and friend describing his "terrible longing for the unknown that drives me to madness."  The desire to explore the unknown is a directing attribute of his art and life.  He became interested in non-western society and non-western art.  He moved his places of residences often, travelling from Paris to Brittany, Martinique, Arles, Tahiti, and the Marquesas Islands.

He originally worked as a foreign exchange broker, drawing and painting in his free time.  He became friends with Camille Pissarro and started working with a wide variety of techniques. After seeing the wax dancers done by Degas, Gauguin made wax portraits of his own children and worked with wood, previously only used in crafts.

Nature Morte au Profil de Laval 1886 ( note Gauguin incorporating primitive sculpture in the still life).

La Chanteuse (Portrait de Valérie Roumi) 1880

Dame en Promenade 1880

Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)- Gauguin sculptant La Dame en Promenade

Double Poirtrait de Gauguin par Pissarro et Pissarro par Gauguin

La Bergere Bretonne 1886

Fleurs, Nature Morte 1881 dit aussi Intérieur du Peintre, Rue Carcel 1881

Fête Gloanec did aussi Nature Morte "Fête Gloanec" 1888

La Belle Angele 1889

Portrait de L'artiste au Christ Jaune 1890-91 (Gauguin pictured with a martyred Christ and primitive sculpture in the background)

Portrait of Gauguin in the form of a grotesque head

Nature Morte a L'Éventail 1889--- many of Gauguin's pictures had fans in them

Pot avec Masque Féminine 1887-88

La Toilette 1882

Similar to La Toilette - Gauguin often repeated images in different media

Many artists travelled to Brittany to paint, including Gauguin who made a number of wonderful painting featuring life in Brittany.

La Ronde des Petites Bretonnes 1888

Paysannes Bretonnes 1894

Buffet dit du "Paradis Terrestre" 1888- done by Gauguin in collaboration with Émile Bernard (1868-1941)

Gauguin also spent time in Arles, including time spent with Vincent Van Gogh when the latter cut off a piece of his ear.  He picked up some techniques from Van Gogh during that visit.

Laveuses a Arles 1888

Lavandieres au Bord du Canal 1888

Éventail aux Baigneuses 1887

Soyez Mystérieuses 1890 

Dans les Vagues 1888

La Vendange ou La Pauvresse dit aussi Miseres Humaines 1888

Gauguin then travelled to Tahiti.

Tête de Tahitienne 1894-95

Le Repas 1891

Femme de Tahiti dit aussi Sur La Plage 

Noa, Noa (Odorant Embaumé, Enbaumé) 1894-95

I Raro te Oviri (Sous les Pandanus) 1891

Back of the previous sculpture Tehura

Pastorales Tahitiennes 1892

Merahi Met No Tehamana ( les Lieux de Tehamana) 1893

Self-portrait  au Chapeau 1893-94

Parahi te Marie ( La Réside le Temple) 1892)

Te Rerioa (Le Rêve) 1897

Rupe Rupe (Luxuriant) 1899

Self-portrait - vers 1897 ou vers 1903

It was a very comprehensive exhibit with a very good audio guide.  We were a bit exhausted after the visit and needed a long walk.

We crossed the Alexander III bridge to the left bank.   I took this shot of the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

Walking across the Alexander III bridge

We stopped for a coffee and baguette sandwiches and wandered around Saint Germain.  Then back to the apartment.

We met my cousin Laure, who is an architect in Paris, at a nearby bistro that she had suggested for dinner - Au Bon Coin.  There was a lovely amuse bouche of an egg mousse.  Alain and I shared some veal terrine for an appetizer and I had pork and fois gras for my main course and Alain had veal with a pumpkin puree.  Grace and Laure shared grilled octopus and monkfish.  Baba au Rum for dessert.

Amuse Bouche 

Laure 

Cousins

Veal terrine and pickled radishes 

Pork and fois gras

Alain's veal 

Veal with pumpkin puree

Grace and the Baba au Rum

We went back to the apartment to pack.  On Thursday October 12, we head to Porto for three nights and then Lisbon for six.  I will next be posting on the blog from Porto.